PICTURE THIS

69 for a 24-exposure roll, and the photos are even up online! My secret source is www.

snapfish.

com, one of the new photo-processing and developing sites. You snap the pictures on your own, but instead of delivering the film to a local developer, the site does the dirty work. I had a roll from a recent wedding and, not in a rush to get the pictures, thought I'd try snapfish. All I did was log on, request the free mailers, and a few days later they arrived at my home. You put your roll in the postage-paid plastic envelope, stick on the address label, which the site provides, and drop it in the mail. About three days later (excluding Sundays and holidays), I received an E-mail from snapfish telling me my photos were up on the site, ready for viewing, and that the prints would arrive by mail in seven to 10 days. I immediately checked out the site, and the photos were great. I then E-mailed the link to everyone I knew at the wedding so they, too, could enjoy my pics. The site creates little photo albums for you, so you can view all of the photos at once or one at a time. You can edit them to your liking and send the entire selection or just a few to friends, who can also order their own set of prints. I expected to have to wait awhile for the actual photos, but was pleasantly surprised when they showed up in my mailbox two days later with the negatives. They were beautiful prints, on Kodak paper - exactly what I would have received from my local developer. And the $1.

69 was charged to my credit card. I'm not sure how snapfish can charge so little. The only requirement for getting the low price is that you have to view your photos on the site within 30 days, but who wouldn't? The process obviously takes a bit longer than a one-hour developer, but, in this case, a little patience is worth it for the savings.